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Adieu vs Parting - What's the difference?

adieu | parting |

As nouns the difference between adieu and parting

is that adieu is a farewell, a goodbye; especially a fond farewell, or a lasting or permanent farewell while parting is the act of parting or dividing; the state of being parted; division; separation.

As an interjection adieu

is said to wish a final farewell; goodbye.

As a verb parting is

.

adieu

English

Usage notes

Although the above pronunciations are usually used in American and RP English, neither is the standard pronunciation in French.

Interjection

(en interjection)
  • Said to wish a final farewell; goodbye.
  • * 1599 ,
    • BEATRICE. What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true?
    Stand I condemn'd for pride and scorn so much?
    Contempt, farewell! and maiden pride, adieu !
    No glory lives behind the back of such.

    Synonyms

    * addio, adios, aloha, arrivederci, auf Wiedersehen, au revoir, bye, bye-bye, cheerio, cheers, ciao, farewell, good-by, good-bye, goodbye, good day, sayonara, shalom, so long

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A farewell, a goodbye; especially a fond farewell, or a lasting or permanent farewell.
    • We bid our final adieus to our family, then boarded the ship, bound for America.

    Usage notes

    Particularly used in phrase bid adieu.

    Derived terms

    * bid adieu

    parting

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of parting or dividing; the state of being parted; division; separation.
  • * Bible, Ezekiel xxi. 21
    • The parting of the way.
  • A farewell, the act of departing politely.
  • * Byron
    • And there were sudden partings ,such as press / The life from out young hearts.
  • * 1900 , L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Chapter 23
    • But she hugged the soft, stuffed body of the Scarecrow in her arms instead of kissing his painted face, and found she was crying herself at this sorrowful parting from her loving comrades.
  • (British) The dividing line formed by combing the hair in different directions; part (US )
  • (founding) The surface of the sand of one section of a mould where it meets that of another section.
  • (chemistry) The separation and determination of alloys; especially, the separation, as by acids, of gold from silver in the assay button.
  • (geology) A joint or fissure, as in a coal seam.
  • (nautical) The breaking, as of a cable, by violence.
  • (mineralogy) Lamellar separation in a crystallized mineral, due to some other cause than cleavage, as to the presence of twinning lamellae.
    • (Webster 1913)

    Verb

    (head)

    • Derived terms

    * parting shot

    Anagrams

    * *